The Princess and the King
by aries-angel12
Summary: Thayet happens upon Jon telling the children a bedtime story. Written for Goldenlake's Secret Admirer Exchange in February.


**Title:** The Princess and the King  
**Rating:** PG  
**Word Count:** 1570  
**Wishlist Item:** #4: Jon/Thayet  
**Summary:**Thayet happens upon Jon telling the children a bedtime story.

Written for Isha on Goldenlake as part of the February Secret Admirer Exchange.

She wants a bath. It is on the top of her list of current priorities as she dismounts her horse and smiles, shaking her head at the bleary-eyed ostler, and leads her horse into the stables. She unsaddles and grooms her horse without thinking, longing for the baths only a short walk away. She leaves her horse with a final caress and a soft whisper, presses a coin in thanks to the ostler who blushes and stammers as she walks towards the palace with Buri.

"Noon bell for reports?" Buri asks, yawning and giving a nod to the guard as they walk through the hall.

"Summaries. We can go over them in depth after. You'll come for breakfast?" She asks, covering her own yawn as they turn the corner and stop at Buri's rooms. Buri nods.

"I'll see you in the morning then. Remember to visit Duke Baird if your balm doesn't work for your ribs. I'll get him to chase you up if you don't." She smiles. Buri rolls her eyes and opens her door, dropping her bags and nudging them out of the doorway with her foot.

"Tell them I'll come visit before breakfast," Buri says, before smirking, "and sleep well, Thayet." She snaps the door closed, but Thayet can still hear her chuckling as she shakes her head with a rueful smile and walks towards her own suite. She still wants a bath, to wash the mud and sweat and grit away from her skin and to change into clothes not sweaty from riding all day, but she has not seen her children in a week and her husband for ten days and this longing overrides her want for a bath and her need to ride through the evening and not stay a night along the way. The ring of swords from sheaths echoes in the hall, and her own hand is wrapped around the sword at her hip as she turns the corner to her suite and faces the guards at her door. Their weapons are instantly sheathed and it is clear her appearance has startled them.

"Your Majesty, our apologies. We were not prewarned of your arrival, and we heard footsteps." Both men bow, before the second resumes his position.

"My apologies. I did not send warning, and I can hardly reprimand men who are prepared to protect my family. My thanks." She offers a smile, and the guard steps aside and opens the door for her.  
"Welcome home, your Majesty."  
She walks quietly throughout the suite, dropping her saddlebags inside her bedroom and finding the bed empty. She tugs off her boots and tunic, unlacing her hair from her braid and wanders through the rooms. The study where she expected to find Jon is empty, as is the dining room, and she smiles as she heads towards the nursery. The door is closed, but she can feel the warmth from the lit fire seep under the door and as she presses her ear to the door, she can hear the voices of her children.

"Papa, you said it would be exciting! Is there a dragon?"

"Of course there's not a dragon, silly! There haven't been dragons in Tortall for a hundred and hundred and hundred of years."

"But Uncle Raoul"

"There's not a dragon, Jasson." Jonathan says, and she knows he is smiling. "It gets exciting. There's a battle –"

"And the Princess has to fall in love with the King. That's how it goes, isn't it Papa? That's the exciting bit." She can picture the face Jasson makes at Lianne in reply, and covers her mouth before she laughs.

"All they've done is see each other. That's not exciting." Liam joins in, and she hears Roald sigh.

"Remember the tale Aunt Buri tells us? About the knight who fought in battles because it was what he was told to do, and then he meets the lady? And then he finds that there can be a reason to fight and a reason not to? That one's exciting, isn't it?"

"Aunt Buri does voices better than Papa."

"How do the Princess and the King fall in love, Papa?" Lianne asks, her tone pleading.

"Well, it takes time. The King is enchanted by the Princess, and he wants to know her. So he takes her on picnics and rides and shows off his kingdom and his city."

"But what does the Princess think of him, Papa?" Kally asks, challengingly. If Thayet, listening at the door, had wanted a cue to enter, this would have been it. But she stays still, her ear pressed to the door, and listens for Jonathan's response.

"The Princess, well, the Princess didn't feel she was a Princess anymore. In her homeland, there were other people who wanted to be Princesses or Princes more then they wanted the Princess to be Princess. And so the Princess decided that she couldn't be a Princess to people who didn't want her to a Princess anymore and so she left and came to the King's land."

"But why didn't she fight to be a Princess?"

"Because, well," she hears Jonathan stammer in reply, clearly thinking of a diplomatic answer, and she clears her throat.

"Because if the Princess had fought, the Princess would have lost all of her battles. And the Princess knew that, no matter what, she couldn't win." Her hand slides to the handle, and she opens the door. "And so the Princess chose a different battle to fight in, a battle in which she could do some good and help other people who needed help. And that's why she went to the King's land." Her children stare up at her, awestruck, and Jon holds his hand out to her. She squeezes it and smiles down at him before their moment is broken by the tangle of children swarming her legs. She taps a finger to her lips and gestures towards the bed in the corner, and they lower their excited voices in remembrance of their sister asleep in blankets. She hugs Lianne first, presses a kiss to her soft brown hair and smiles at her whispered I missed you Mama, wraps her arms around Jasson and kisses his cheek and laughs as he goes to wipe it away, hugs Liam and ruffles his hair, hugs Kally and kisses her cheek and wraps her arms around Roald until he pulls away. She walks back to Jon and his arms tug her onto his lap, and she turns her face and kisses him as his arms curl around her.

"Mama, we haven't gotten to the good bit of the story yet."

She pulls away from him and looks down at her children, curled in their nightclothes on the floor, and smiles.  
"Well, the King wanted to make the Princess his Queen, but the Princess wasn't sure if she wanted to be Queen. And so while the Princess decided, the King's cousin plotted to steal the throne of the King. And so when the King was officially crowned as King, it cued a battle between those that supported the King and those who supported his cousin. The King was trapped in the ceremony, and so it fell to all of the King's brave friends to save the King. The Princess and all of her friends helped fight, and all of the King's knights and his friends fought their own battles and sometimes they won and sometimes they lost. So when the bravest knight of all killed the King's cousin, it didn't feel like they had won the battle, because some of their friends were hurt and others were killed. And after this, the King asked the Princess to be his Queen, because he needed someone he could trust and someone who he thought he could love."

"And the Princess thought and thought. It meant giving up dreams, and making new ones, and facing fears and most of all it meant she could do some good, but different to how she had planned. And so she agreed, and they wed. And then they had many children, and though it wasn't always peaceful, and sometimes things were bad, they still thought they lived happily ever after. The end." Jonathan smiled, and Lianne yawned.

"And now time for bed. Aunt Buri will come see you in the morning, and she doesn't want to see you sleepy. Give Papa and me a kiss." They shuffled forward and obeyed, and she watched them all move to their beds.

"Do you really think we live happily ever after?" She asks, and he nuzzles the back of her neck.

"Maybe."He replies, and she smiles, laughing softly. "You need a bath. Did you and Buri get into a mud fight? You've got streaks through your hair."

"Part of our happily ever after involves you flattering me with compliments even when I don't deserve them." She scolds, and he laughs, his chest vibrating beneath her back.

"Part of our happily ever after involves me helping you clean up whatever mess you make, don't you think?" He adjusts his arms around her, scooping her knees over one arm and lifting her in his arms as he rises out of the chair.

"I'm sure we can define the rules." She laughs, and clings tighter to him when his arm slips. "Maybe. Maybe, Jon. Maybe." His arms tighten around her again and she smiles into his kiss.


End file.
